NLGJA Will Honor Diane Anderson-Minshall June 23 at L.A. Exclusive

Washington, D.C. – NLGJA – The Association of LGBT Journalists – will present the 2016 Lisa Ben Award for Achievement in Features Coverage to Diane Anderson-Minshall at L.A. Exclusive on June 23.

The Lisa Ben award bears the pen name of Edith Eyde, the creator and distributor of the first known U.S. lesbian publication and the inaugural winner of the award in 2014. NLGJA established the award to honor a journalist whose body of work is distinguished by insight and impact through engaging features on LGBT individuals, the LGBT community or LGBT issues. Cyd Ziegler, co-founder of OutSports.com, was presented with the award in 2015.

“I wouldn’t be here without the legacy of Lisa Ben,” said Anderson-Minshall. “When I co-founded Girlfriends, the lesbian culture magazine, in 1994, I did a lot of research into lesbian publishing history and became an instant fan of Lisa Ben. I feel a kinship for the woman, so earning an award named for her is apropos.”

Anderson-Minshall is currently editor-at-large of The Advocate Magazine and editor-in-chief of HIV Plus Magazine. She co-authored the 2014 memoir Queerly Beloved, about her relationship with her husband Jacob Anderson-Minshall and his gender transition. The couple previously collaborated in writing the Blind Eye Mystery series – Blind Curves, Blind Leap and the Lambda Literary Award finalist Blind Faith.

Prior to her current position, Anderson-Minshall worked at a variety of LGBT publications. In 1990 she was hired to be the editor of the Crescent City Star, New Orleans’ LGBT weekly. In 1993 she was hired as editor at On Our Backs, the lesbian erotic magazine. She went on to found the lesbian entertainment magazine Girlfriends. There and at Curve Magazine she won awards for her celebrity interviews, which included those of Angelina Joile, Sinead O’Connor and Dana Plato.

“As someone who is fiercely supportive of, and has worked so much in, LGBT media, the [Lisa Ben Award] is extra special, because I know we’re often seen as less than those who choose mainstream publishing,” said Anderson-Minshall. “The diversity of our lives, our stories, are still not being told and many journalists still feel like they’ll be discriminated against, pigeonholed or find their careers back burnered if their editors, publishers or readers find out they are LGBT.”

Join us at L.A. Exclusive in the evening of June 23 when NLGJA presents the award to Anderson-Minshall. For more information and to buy tickets go to www.nlgja.org/LAExclusive.

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About the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists AssociationNLGJA – The Association of LGBT Journalists – is an organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students working from within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBT issues. NLGJA opposes all forms of workplace bias and provides professional development to its members. For more information on the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, visit the NLGJA website at http://www.nlgja.org.